As most of you may have gathered by my incessant blathering during class, I'm a big fan of Michael Rakowitz's "RETURN". I had never been exposed to his work before, but I found myself intrigued by the implications that arose in this art/business venture turned socio-economic investigation.
Presented on the first floor of the Sculpture Center, Rakowitz's installation consisted of the following: A couch, a television, a box of dates with four separate partitions, headphones and various hanging documents. Upon closer investigation, one could read (or hear via headphones) the story of Michael's father, an Iraqi Jew, who had immigrated to New York in the mid 1900's and opened an import/export company called Davison & Co.. In a bold art project, Rakowitz had reopened his father's business in Brooklyn, aiming to import the first Iraqi product into America since 1965. He did not have a robust inventory planned--on the contrary, there was only one real item of interest: The renowned Iraqi date.
Via his installation at the Sculpture Center, the viewer is able to witness Rakowitz's experiment of importing one ton of dates into the United States. What I found most interesting was how the project as a whole became far greater than the sum of its parts. The dates followed a surrogate path of today's Iraqi refugees: attempting to cross the Jordanian border after waiting in a 4-day line of traffic only to be turned away on two separate occasions... then traveling through Syria in an effort to reach Damascus, hoping to connect with a flight to Cairo. Even after exiting Iraq successfully, attempts to enter the United States were thwarted by inane bureaucratic excuses. Rakowitz experienced an unusually difficult time importing dates, a sweet fruit symbolizing hope and goodwill, from a country that we are supposed to be helping in their rebuilding efforts. He even received a letter from our own government, in 2004, informing him that it was ILLEGAL to import products from Iraq because we were "at war" with this country. This happened after President George W. Bush had declared "victory" and sanctions had been lifted.
Outside of highlighting some our country's glaring hypocrisies in foreign policy, this art project also acted as a unique social platform. Seated in a neighborhood where many Arab and Muslim immigrant families have settled, Rakowitz's sign drew in many curious customers who were intrigued by the letters in his storefront window: "Iraqi Dates, Coming Soon!" He met an older gentleman who had been away from his native Iraq for 46 years. They found a unique bond as fellow exiles. A Lebanese businessman came in to inquire as to whether or not his shop required an intermediary shipping company in order to secure Iraqi goods. This offer was instead accepted by another Iraqi exile who was searching for a way to send his family goods on a regular basis. Politics were often discussed for hours on end by customers as they engaged with one another openly and honestly, challenging social norms for our society's average retail locations. Who would have thought that camaraderie among so many different individuals could have been found in a small, newly opened storefront in Brooklyn?
I find this kind of work to be not only fascinating and inspiring, but also important. Some very real problems were highlighted by RETURN. In the same token, some very real connections were made. This work was successful in questioning an issue in a unique way and raising awareness about economic/trade loopholes within the relationship between the US and Iraq. It also unintentionally reflected the plight of many Iraqi refugees, who are robbed of even the most basic sense of safety and security.
This is something that, in my opinion, is a truly valuable contribution to the art world and society at large.
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